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Monday, November 19, 2007
$11 Billion Cut Not Enough For Republicans
Before the House Republicans sustained the President's veto of the labor/hhs appropriations bill, Democrats had offered to cut $11 billion out of budget bills, half of the difference between their budget proposal and the President's. Roll Call is reporting that that offer has been rejected.
House Republicans are rejecting a compromise offer from Democrats that would cut in half their proposed $22 billion increase to President Bush's budget, but it's unclear how long GOP leaders will be able to keep getting their Members to walk the plank against popular spending bills.
House Republicans barely found the votes to sustain President Bush's veto of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies spending bill last week, and Democrats think they will either get a deal or be able to paint Republicans as heartless toadies of an intransigent and unpopular president.
Although Republicans have made the spending veto battle the key to restoring their tattered "brand" as the party of fiscal responsibility, and some conservatives dream of forcing Democrats to adopt a yearlong continuing resolution that would freeze spending across the board, others may be inclined to declare victory at a 50-50 draw rather than being forced to vote for ever-deeper cuts to domestic spending programs like home-heating assistance, cancer research and local aid as the holidays approach.
This report seems fairly preliminary, but at the very least, there's no known endgame for the budget yet, and very little prospect for meaningful compromise. How do the Democrats compromise with a Republican party that can only sees its success in their failure?
Posted by Matt Lewis
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